How to talk up your study achievements in your cover letter

If you’ve recently finished studying or you’re nearing the end of your current course, it’s time for all your hard work to pay off. If you’re feeling ready to go forth and land your dream job, highlighting your study achievements in your cover letter could be the key to showing prospective employers that you’re the right person for the role.

Study = success

Like your résumé, your cover letter is a great opportunity to sell yourself, but it also offers the chance to reach out to and engage hiring managers on a more conversational level. When you talk up your study achievements and position them as your unique selling proposition, you reinforce seven ‘hire me’ signals that employers are looking for:

Your relevant knowledge and experience

Your motivation to fill knowledge and experience gaps

Your genuine passion for the industry

Your willingness to take initiative and invest in professional development

Your determination to go above and beyond to achieve results

Your seriousness regarding career progression

Your ability to consider the big picture, and take on new challenges to ensure future success

How to..? Where to..?

If you’re unsure where to start when it comes to writing a cover letter, there are tons of great samples and templates online, including this example of a good cover letter (versus a bad one).

To illustrate how your study achievements can add value to the role you’re applying for, try these three techniques:

1. In your key statement as to why you should be chosen for the position (within the first or second paragraph of your letter), be sure to draw attention to your recent education. You might write something along the lines of:

I am motivated to secure a role in the public relations and communications industry and pride myself on being a skilled and highly-qualified communicator, as proven by my recent completion of a Diploma of Marketing.

2. Highlight the best of your CV, mentioning your training and how this can help you succeed in this role. One bullet point may include:

Expertise: I have an Advanced Diploma of Nutritional Medicine, which has provided me with a progressive understanding of nutritional principles, patient assessment and basic microbiology.

3. Reiterate how your study achievements match the skills required for this role. This is your opportunity to position yourself as an ideal candidate who ticks all the boxes, so mirror as many of the required/desired competencies outlined in the job description as you can. This paragraph might be along the lines of:

I am soon to complete a Diploma of Project Management, which has given me a solid grounding for the professional proficiencies you are looking for in a candidate including stakeholder engagement, project integration, cost management, and effective communication.